Written by LegoCoastalPatrol (Unspecified , gold-rated reviewer) in United Kingdom, 01 Sep 2009

I managed to get my hands on this set soon after its release and has been a favourite since. This particular set goes well with the Police Boat (7899) and some of the coast guard vessels (7739, 6433). There are just two minifigs who crew this vessel, but it does come complete with a yellow RIB.

The boat is presented in a clean red and grey colour scheme with areas of black and white detailing. The main set encompasses five areas:

The Exterior is of a red hull and grey deck with a raised gunwhale around the forepeak. A set of steps allow access to the lower deck and a hatch swings out forward to allow entry to a storage area and the cabin. The smooth contours of the superstructure rise up from the foredeck to the high flying bridge with black fins supporting the radar arch. The front of the flying bridge is adorned with ‘spot lights’ and lower down is the life ring for emergency rescue of casualties, this lacks any rescue rope though. The radar arch is in the form of a wide gantry on which various ‘lights’, vents, radar dome and high gain VHF antenna are mounted. At either side of the two black fins which support the arch are red marker ‘lights’.

The Interior is sparse in appearance which does allow for a certain degree of customisation. Provided is a forward storage area with control room aft, this area features a desk with chair and a computer / radar screen and the all-important coffee cup (as on 7046).. The high flying bridge can accommodate just one minifig and also features a steering wheel and tinted blue windshield but lacks any control panels or equipment. A pair of binoculars and a handheld VHF radio are provided for crew use on brackets which protrude from the forward end of the flying bridge but can be accessed from the lower side decks.

The Aft Deck and Dinghy Launching Crane is a major feature of this set. The aft deck is again in grey and features an ‘up and over’ grey lifting gantry on which a single grey hook and blue warning ‘light’ is mounted. The lifting gantry is attached to two red fins on the transom. The fins also feature white vents and blue ‘lights’.

The Fire-Fighting Equipment is mounted towards the bow of the boat, and features a 360º swivel fire-fighters chair with water gun which can raise and lower depending on the angle required. There are also two over-size water jets mounted to the sides of the superstructure, these too can tilt and swivel to reach any areas. These jets can be stored neatly point-to-point when not in use. Two large yellow pumps with black taps complete the forepeak decoration. There is no fire-fighting equipment mounted onto the RIB. It should be presumed that this smaller vessel is for guidance and scouting operations only.

The Dinghy is clean and tidy and comes with a small outboard motor, blue ‘lights’ mounted to the side decks and a further handheld VHF radio. There is also the bracket which marries to the hook mounted on the gantry, allowing recovery of the RIB from the water. The whole operation is smooth with very little sway and once the RIB had landed on the aft deck, it is held securely.

Also with the set, a motor is provided which can allow the boat to be pushed along and with a slight angling of the rudder, the boat can be made to turn.

This, I think, is a great modern take on the old faithful Lego fireboats we all loved. There are a few empty spaces which could have been filled, possibly with more electronic equipment and a few bunks, but all in all it’s a good starting block for customisation.

I grabbed this set for a big bargain in a toys fair in my city recently.

What I love about the set :- It can really float in the water since the boat is not made by bricks but one large piece.- It come with a motor, so the boat can really move in the water- The detail is really nice, you get a real boat feeling from this set. They have some antennas, sirene, water cannons, and a life buoy. The set also have their own lifeboat and it really can float too. Nice!

What I dont like about this set :- There's no on/off in the machine, so if you want to turn it on/off, you got to unscrew the screw first. Lego probably doesnt want to put an on and off button because they afraid that water can seep in from the crack and damaging the machine. But I think they should come out with a better way than this.- If you put the machine below the ship, the ship can not displayed correctly. So you need to remove the machine and put it somewhere. Not really nice design. I think Lego can made a machine that has flat bottom surface, so I can display the set with the machine attached beneath it nicely.- Stickers. I hate stickers. They tend to loose their adhesiveness along time. Especially for a set that intended for water playing, I think Lego should considering using printed parts instead of stickers. I am not really sure that the stickers can stand waters.

Well, what can I say. It's not bad, but not great either. It works well in water, but doesn't steer. You need to take off the motor for to balance on land (i.e. a shelf), but taking of the motor isn't hard. I can't really tell it is a fire boat, it looks more like an army boat. The hoses on the side swivel wonderfully, and point in nearly every direction possible. The swivel chair up front works well to. The life raft works well, but is very loose in the boat. Comes with three cool fire fighters, all with hats. There is a desk inside the boat, for one of the people to sit at, near the hatch. The hatch works well, but is that a toilet seat on it? It is a cool set, with only a few flaws, and I like it.

Written by Legobuilderguy (Unspecified , silver-rated reviewer) in United States, 06 Jun 2008

I just got this set at Wal-Mart and having put it together I thought I would write a bit about it. This is a pretty good looking set and an easy build. Like set# 7899 this one come with the orange motor for those of you into that sort of thing. I have to say that it looks pretty good once it's all put together and set next to the other fire boats. Pro's and con's time I guess.

Pro's: 3 mini figuresFairly nice designclassic yellow dingy

Con's:stickersthe side water cannons look strange (took mine off and it looks better)small bridge design

All in all I would recommend this set to people who like the Lego style boats like I do and to those who like the City theme. For those that like the challenge of the build I would probably not as this build took all of about 20 minutes. Still, it looks nice and adds to the boat sets that I enjoy so much!!